


Pattern

by ghost_like



Series: Shangri-la [1]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Mythology References, Shangri-La Inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 01:51:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16075847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghost_like/pseuds/ghost_like
Summary: Hakyeon was born in an explosion of light, coming to as he was in an instant, a heartbeat, made with stardust and molded by solar winds. He was made to bring life, to bring change.And, with him, something -someone- was also born. His very opposite, meant to bring death, the end of all things.





	Pattern

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this back in february/march, please don't judge me too hard :|
> 
> i'm still not sure about posting this, so don't be surprised if i end up deleting it.  
> only warning here is facing mortality, so if you don't like thinking/reading about inevitable death and things dying, you should probably steer clear from this.
> 
> enjoy! ♡

Hakyeon was still young the first time he met his archnemesis. He was but a dragonling then, the universe a misshapen mess of dust and fire, Hakyeon the only one of his kind. He was born in an explosion of light, coming to as he was in an instant, a heartbeat, made with stardust and molded by solar winds. He was made to bring life, to bring change.

And, with him, something - _someone -_ was also born. His very opposite, meant to bring death, the end of all things, born only instants after himself, grown from the same raw materials as Hakyeon himself.

He hadn’t met him then, when he first awoke in that new universe, the two of them separated across different realms of existence. No, it would be eons until he saw him face to face for the first time.

Hakyeon was only a couple thousand years young, still a bumbling babe, really, when he gave life to his very first being. A flower. He was so proud, so enamored with his creation, and how odd it must have looked - a dragon wrapping its serpentine body around a single flower, fiercely protective. He loved his flower. He was in awe of its long, vibrant green stem, its lush leaves, the vivid hue of its bright yellow petals. It was his child, he had created it, he had breathed life into it. He loved it.

He watched the flower every day, nurtured it with water and sunlight and care, kept it safe from the strong winds with his own body as his scales would not suffer the damage his delicate creation would. He talked to the flower of the universe, sang to it, told it stories he made up himself.

Hakyeon was happy. Happy and proud.

And then, one day, he had woken up to his child looking less bright, the petals drooping towards the ground, the once vivid yellow darkening until it was almost black. Hakyeon startled, afraid he’d done something wrong, perhaps he’d given it too much water? Should he have shaded it from the sun? No, he had to fix it, his child was in pain and as its creator, he had to do _something_ to make it right.

That’s when he saw _him_ for the first time.

He was still smoke back then, black swirly smoke, moving with a wind that was not truly there. He swooped in, draping himself over his child, and just like that the life Hakyeon had so lovingly breathed into the flower was snuffed out.

Hakyeon wailed in his rage, tried attacking that puff of dark smoke, but his claws only managed to bother it and scatter it around slightly. Hakyeon lunged forward, tried to bite and scratch and slam his long tail against it, roaring furiously at the Darkness that had stolen his little love. ‘ _Fight back_ ’, he snarled and demanded, but the shadow didn’t reply. It just… Stayed there. Watching him with invisible eyes, and Hakyeon hated him, _loathed_ him.

It was a few decades before Hakyeon felt brave enough to try again.

He created a butterfly, this time. It was more difficult than creating the flower; the butterfly started off as a tiny little worm and Hakyeon fed it with the grass that covered his dimension. The worm grew into a yellow caterpillar; Hakyeon followed it everywhere to make sure it wouldn’t get lost or hurt somewhere, as the overbearing parent he was, even going as far plucking it up with his claws when it got too close to the edge of the world.

When his little baby began the process of building itself a chrysalis, Hakyeon was beaming with pride - how far his child had come! He continued to watch over it as attentive as ever, making sure nothing would disturb the caterpillar when it was so defenseless inside its cocoon. Every day he would stress over it, making sure it wasn’t too hot or too cold, protecting it from the excessive light, calling for the rain when he thought it seemed too dry. It felt like forever until the chrysalis finally broke and his child reemerged, now a gorgeous butterfly with bright orange wings.

Hakyeon had forgotten that happiness to have his child with him, that happiness he’d felt after creating the flower. He would fly around with his butterfly through the endless azure sky all day, playing and singing and laughing, and it felt good. He felt happy and confident. Perhaps he should create more butterflies, give his child many, many siblings and fill the world with them.

And then he came around again.

Hakyeon didn’t think it would happen. He’d done everything right this time, he knew he did. He watched over the butterfly closely, never let it get hurt or sick, always made sure to feed it properly, and even so he still came. He awoke to find his butterfly on the ground, wings bent in awkward angles and its fragile little body stiff and broken.

And there he was, that mass of darkness just hovering over his child.

Again, Hakyeon lashed out and tried to claw at that monster, that thing that kept taking his children away from him. He cried and screamed and cursed, he scratched and bit and spat fire, but it didn’t help. Nothing helped.

He tried again and again to create life and have his children remain by his side, but he always showed up eventually and took them. Hakyeon found that his trees seemed to live longer, and for a time, trees were all he created until the world was covered in them. His trees came in all shapes and sizes and colors, some sprouted fruit, some bloomed with flowers of their own, but they were all equally loved and tended to by Hakyeon himself.

It would take centuries for the Darkness to come for his trees, and despite the larger amount of time to enjoy the company of his children, it always hurt when he came to rip them away from Hakyeon.

Hakyeon considered just stopping altogether, to not give that thing another chance to harm his babies, but that went against his very purpose, his very nature - he was made to create life. If he stopped it, then he might as well dissolve back into stardust and let the solar winds that had given him shape scatter him back to the cosmos where he’d come from.

So, despite his fear, his reservations, Hakyeon doubled his efforts. He created more and more each day. He filled the world with insects, and birds, and fishes, animals large and small. They all withered away when the Darkness came for them. Hakyeon would still lash out, but instead of wallowing the losses he would just make new children. This time, however, he decided to make it so his children could at least leave something behind after they’d gone, something that gave them the same satisfaction Hakyeon felt whenever he birthed another being: he began making his children in pairs. His children had children of their own, and their children also had children, and even if the first ones were taken by the Darkness, Hakyeon could still take solace in their descendants.

Yes, he could carry on; it wasn’t easy, and it didn’t make it any less painful for him any time one of his children died, but at least now he was never truly alone. The Darkness could not take them all at once. He would not allow it.

His children grew and multiplied, he made new children of new species, and his children made new children, and after millennia passed the creation he’d made began to warp into new forms to survive the changes in the world. The Darkness continued to come for them, and Hakyeon would have believed that his heart would grow numb at the constant loss, but it never did. It always hurt. He felt it in his very core each and every time one of his children was taken by the Darkness.

Hakyeon was quite pleased with himself when he created mankind. Humans were certainly funny creatures, and it was fascinating for him to watch - he didn’t interact with them much, deciding that maybe if he kept his distance, it wouldn’t hurt as bad when they were gone. He watched them grow from awkward toddlers into functional adults, watched them find mates and fall in love and have their own children, watched their hairs turn brittle and gray and wrinkles begin to adorn their faces.

And then he watched the Darkness take them. One by one.

Keeping his distance did nothing to appease the aching in his heart.

Still, he liked humans. He liked their interactions, their ways of communicating with words, their appearance. So he searched the depths of his being to find the spark he needed to ignite a change in himself. He made himself another shape, one he could change to whenever he pleased, one that looked human just like his children. It wasn’t a perfect transformation, however; one of his eyes was still cobalt blue, his draconic pupil too glaring for him to pass as human. And if his eye didn’t give him away, then the few patches of skin covered with sparkling golden scales would most certainly do the trick.

But he liked his human form and began spending more time as such than as a dragon. He would only turn back to his original form to create new children, as for some reason he could not make use of his Yeouiju in human form. He would get to the bottom of that, eventually.

He awoke one day with a heavy heart - one of his children was sick. He could feel it.

It was a human child of only seven summers. Hakyeon fussed over his creation, being careful to not be seen, but there was not much he could do for the kid - the Darkness came again.

It blew over the lithe, frail frame of the child, and took its life away.

Hakyeon didn’t fight. Didn’t argue. He only sat at the top of the mountain he had begun to call home and wept. His tears were thick and warm as they ran down his cheeks, his sobs loud and pained, echoing in the rock formations around him. He let himself cry with abandon, let his sadness pour out of him— Until he realized he wasn’t alone anymore.

He knew that presence. He hated it.

But he was still very surprised to turn to face his enemy, expecting to find that cloud of smoke hovering in the air next to him, and finding something human-shaped instead.

He couldn’t see it; the Darkness was wearing a long dark cloak that covered his entire body and a hood over his head. Hakyeon wanted to rip the cloak from him, he wanted to look at that creature in the eyes and ask him  _why_.

“I am sorry,” he said, and Hakyeon felt a shiver run down his spine both from the surprise and from the sickening feeling that sprouted at the pit of his belly. His voice was not what he’d been expecting, not in the slightest; it was soft and melodic, like whispers and wind chimes, the sound of rain hitting the grass, leaves rustling in the wind, crickets singing in the night. It was - and Hakyeon would never admit to it - beautiful. “I know you will likely not believe a word I say, but it is the truth. I am sorry.”

Hakyeon bit his tongue hard, hard enough to taste blood. The tears wouldn’t stop, but now there were angry tears mixed with the grieving ones. “If you are truly so sorry,” Hakyeon bit, acid, “then why do you keep taking them from me?”

The figure next to him lowered his head, silent for a long moment before he spoke again. “Everything has to die.”

“No,” Hakyeon murmured, shaking his head in pure denial. “No, it does not have to be this way.”

“I am sorry.”

“Shut up, I cannot—” a wretched sob interrupted him and Hakyeon turned away. He would not let that thing witness his pain. “Give them back to me, if you are so sorry then just give them _back_ —”

“I would do so if I could,” the figure said, and there was something in its voice that spoke of empathy. Hakyeon heard it like a joke in poor taste, coming from the mouth of the one who kept breaking his heart.

“And why can you not? They are _mine_ , they are my  _children_ —” Hakyeon cut himself off and inhaled a shuddery breath, his limbs shaking with contained rage. “I do not know what you are, I do not know _who_ you are, but—”

“Taekwoon.”

Hakyeon blinked, looking up at the robed creature again. “What?”

“My name,” he explained, the cadence of his voice never changing. “Taekwoon.”

“Well, _Taekwoon_ ,” Hakyeon said with scorn so thick it might as well be venom dripping from his lips, “you have been taking my children from me from the very beginning without thought or reason, leaving me behind broken and alone every single time. So no, I do not accept your apology, especially seeing that you have no intention to stop taking my children. I will not simply turn the other cheek over an empty apology, I will never stop trying to fight you, trying to keep my children safe from your clutches, so do not come to me telling me you are sorry. I loathe you. I despise your very existence. I will _never_ grant you my forgiveness.”

The Darkness - _Taekwoon_ \- did not reply immediately, keeping his head low and his hands loose at his sides. Slowly, he turned his face around towards Hakyeon. He could not see his face, not entirely - all he could see under the dark hood was the round chin and the pouty pink lips, stark against his pale skin.

“I see,” he finally muttered. Hakyeon’s eyes darted to his mouth, finding that his plushy lips barely moved when he spoke. “I truly have no quarrel with you. And perhaps my decision of approaching you on this subject was brash and far too impulsive of me, but I was hoping… I was hoping I could make you _understand_.”

“Understand what? That you only bring ruin and misery to my beloved creations for no reason at all?” Hakyeon snapped, eyes wild with fury. Taekwoon didn’t even twitch.

Taekwoon’s head moved just the slightest, as if he was tilting his head under the hood. “Everything has a reason, Hakyeon.”

Hakyeon snarled at the sound of his name coming from that mouth, those lips. “Do not—” Hakyeon started, but changed his mind right as the words left his lips. He didn’t want to continue that conversation. He didn’t want to hear Taekwoon’s excuses. “Just leave. I cannot stand the mere presence of you, I cannot have you so close and resist the urge to snap your neck, so _leave_.”

Taekwoon stared at him, a gaze so powerful Hakyeon could feel it like a physical presence even from under that hood, and without saying a word more, Taekwoon let himself be washed away by the wind, fading like smoke in the air next to Hakyeon.

Hakyeon screamed at the empty space beside him and continued to cry until his exhaustion took him away to the land of dreams.

 

***

 

Like he had predicted, Taekwoon continued to take his children from him even after his ‘heartfelt’ apology. It made Hakyeon simmer with rage and resentment, the feeling of something going unfulfilled sitting heavily in his chest. He tried attacking Taekwoon each and every time he caught a glimpse of him as he took yet another one of his creations away, just wishing he would fight back for _once_ so Hakyeon could at least let out some of his anger, but he never did. Taekwoon never fought back - he was smoke. Hakyeon couldn’t harm smoke, no matter how much he wished he could.

Taekwoon came back from time to time, always offering him an apology only to have his apology be rejected by a hostile Hakyeon.

It happened for many centuries, Taekwoon taking lives and apologizing and Hakyeon growing angrier and rejecting him viciously. Then it happened, something Hakyeon never thought possible - hundreds of his children gone at once. He had taken so many of them. One by one his children began to wither, getting sick with disease and plague, and Taekwoon took them. He took them by the droves, washing over the land and covering everything with his darkness.

Hakyeon had retreated into his cave, wrapped himself in his colorful silks and velvets, always so warm and welcoming and soothing to his soul, with the intention of mourning the massive loss for the next few centuries, when he felt that cold chill and the dread that came with it.

“What is it that you want?” Hakyeon asked without bothering to turn and face his uninvited guest. “Came to deliver another one of your hollow apologies?”

Taekwoon didn’t reply. Hakyeon scoffed, wiping the tear streaks from his face with the back of his hand.

“You took so many of them, such a large number of my children gone, and you have nothing to say about that?”

“You will not accept my apology,” Taekwoon stated factually and Hakyeon could not argue. He was right. “I do, however, hope you will accept my condolences.”

Hakyeon barked a laugh devoid of any humor, a growl mixed with it as his true draconic form shone through in his anger. “Condolences!” Hakyeon echoed, mocking. “You take them away and then come offer me your _condolences_!”

“It is what I have to offer you,” Taekwoon said, seemingly unbothered by Hakyeon’s outburst. “You will not accept my apology.”

“You already said that.”

“You seem to have forgotten,” Taekwoon threw back and Hakyeon growled at him, not at all amused with the snark in his tone. “I cannot fight my nature any more than you can fight yours, Hakyeon. I am Death. As much as I wish I could stop taking your children from you, that is not possible,” he stated with his melodic voice, and Hakyeon felt the anger boil in his veins. “Everything must die. Everything you create, I will take away. I cannot stop it.”

“Then what do you want from me?” Hakyeon demanded, eyes shiny with new tears, but he refused to start crying again in front of the one being he hated the most in the universe. “Why do you keep coming around, again and again, knowing that nothing will change?”

“Because, no matter how you do not believe my apologies genuine, I do feel for the lives I take,” Taekwoon said, and Hakyeon hated to admit that he’d heard the honesty in his voice. “It does not please me to take them from you, for I know you love them dearly.”

Hakyeon shot him a sour look. “What do you know about love? You are Death.”

After a beat of silence, Taekwoon spoke. “I know plenty.”

“ _Plenty?_ You kill love wherever you go, you take and you take and leave behind only sorrow and ashes. Who are you to speak to me about love?”

“That is what you do not seem to grasp or comprehend,” Taekwoon said, his voice so soft it might as well have been the wind. “You have spent eternity loathing me for being what I am, and you have been so consumed by it that you have never tried to see it from any other point of view than your own.”

“And I should see things through your point of view, is that it?” Hakyeon scoffed. “You wish to teach me to hate my own creations? To make me as callous as you?”

“Without Death, there can be no growth. Without growth, there can be no Life,” Taekwoon said, simple, and Hakyeon rolled his eyes.

“So you have been _helping_ me, is that it?”

“We are both parts of a cycle,” Taekwoon explained, ever patient. “We are Renewal. We are deeply connected, to each other and to the universe, even if you like to pretend we are enemies.”

“No,” Hakyeon said and shook his head, getting up from his comfortable cocoon of silks to pace around his cave angrily. “No, we are nothing to each other.”

Taekwoon rose to his feet slowly from where he’d been sitting a few feet away, and Hakyeon stopped pacing when he caught the movement to turn and look at him. His robes were hiding his face in shadows, and not even the light reflected by the many crystals on the walls and ceiling of his cave could breach the darkness.

“Hakyeon.”

For some reason, the way Taekwoon uttered his name made him shiver. Hakyeon’s breath caught, his hands balled into fists at his sides to stop himself from shaking. He wasn’t sure why - he wasn’t sure if it was rage what he was feeling, or something else.

His eyes widened when Taekwoon brought his hands up and the sleeves of his robes slid down his arms, revealing his hands to Hakyeon. His nails were long and sharp, the expanse from his fingertips to about halfway through his palms black as if he had dipped his hands in ink and smudged the edges, the darkness glaring against the paleness of the rest of his skin.

Darkness eating away at the light. Decay corroding purity.

Slowly, so slowly, Taekwoon hooked his finger on the rim of his hood and pulled it back, revealing his face to Hakyeon for the very first time. He couldn’t see him right away, for his head was bowed; all he saw was a mop of jet black hair, at first.

Then he raised his face to meet Hakyeon’s gaze, and Hakyeon stumbled back at the sight.

Taekwoon was beautiful. His skin was pale and flawless, like marble stones, his lips round and inviting, his cheekbones high and his nose striking. And his eyes. His _eyes._

They had an almond shape to them, a feline quality that made him seem both dangerous and seductive in tandem and the color— It was black. All black. There were no whites in his eyes, and it frightened Hakyeon to see a void where the windows to the soul should be.

Taekwoon blinked, then, seeing the shock in Hakyeon’s features, and suddenly there were two normal looking black eyes staring at him, the whites there as if Hakyeon had imagined the whole thing.

A shaky breath escaped Hakyeon’s parted lips. “Why— Why are you revealing yourself to me now?”

“I wanted to,” Taekwoon replied and tilted his head slightly to the side, catlike eyes unblinking as he stared at Hakyeon. “If nothing else, I wish you to see me at least once before I go.”

Hakyeon felt his blood freeze at the words. “You— Are you going somewhere?”

Taekwoon blinked, once, twice. “No. I am omnipresent, eternal and unchanging.”

“Then what did you mean ‘before you go’?”

“I will not return after this visit,” Taekwoon stated, simple. Hakyeon found himself feeling wrong-footed and anxious. “I will not come to you again. I understand, now, that you will never accept my presence, my existence. This visit is meant to be both a goodbye and a last attempt to reach you.” He paused, a frown gracing his delicate features. Hakyeon was starting to find it hard to breathe. “I should have known this would be the result.”

Hakyeon shook his head, a jerky movement. “No, this— This is not how this works, you kill my children, then you come to me, then beg for my forgiveness, I do not give it to you, and then we repeat the pattern over and over again.”

He thought he saw a small smile tug at the corners of Taekwoon’s lips. “I was expecting you to be more elated with the news. I am aware of how much you despise me.”

Hakyeon didn’t reply, simply turning his face away so Taekwoon couldn’t see his expression.

“I have thought of many things to say to you today, but I will refrain,” Taekwoon said, dark eyes lowered to the floor. “I will not waste time arguing my case to you. We have had this discussion at least once a week for the past three thousand years, Hakyeon. I grow weary of it.”

“So you will leave? Just like that?” Hakyeon asked, head snapping up for his eyes to meet Taekwoon’s. Taekwoon hummed in assent. “You are giving up because you are _tired?”_

“No,” Taekwoon stated, simple, and he took a step towards Hakyeon, who stumbled back with shock. “I understand your anger towards me. I do not contest it, for I know you have plenty of reason.” He paused, a small breath escaping his lips. “But you are right. Nothing will change. I can apologize for eternity, I can mourn every life I take, but I cannot stop coming for your children. My apology is not empty, but it is pointless.”

“Oh, so you finally admit to it?” he said. Hakyeon’s words, again, didn’t raise any reaction from Taekwoon. “After all this time, you realize how useless it is to keep coming to me expecting forgiveness?”

Taekwoon smiled, but it was a sad little thing. His dark eyes were trained on the ground and Hakyeon wished he would look at him, wished that he could see what Taekwoon was hiding in the depths of his void-black eyes. “I was hoping— No, it does not matter. I shall leave you be.”

A different sort of feeling settled in Hakyeon’s heart. He never thought possible he would not see Taekwoon anymore. He had become a certainty, a constant over the many millennia they shared, and now he was saying he would not come back anymore and— Hakyeon didn’t know what to do with that. It was a lonely existence, the one he led. It had been for a long time, ever since humankind, for Hakyeon could not spend time around his children any longer, instead having to watch them from a distance. Taekwoon was the only one he spoke to, even if their talks consisted of Hakyeon yelling curses and insults and Taekwoon accepting everything with his controlled silence.

“You can’t,” Hakyeon whispered despite himself, and Taekwoon raised his eyes to look at him. There was mild confusion in his face, as if he wasn’t sure what Hakyeon was getting at. “It’s not— It’s not fair.”

Taekwoon tilted his head to the side, feline eyes intense as he stared at Hakyeon. “Fair?” He echoed the word almost as if it was a foreign concept to him. “What does fair have to do with anything? Is this not what you wanted? For me to leave you be?”

“What is the point of leaving me be if you will continue to come for my children?” Hakyeon snapped, shaking his head incredulously as a bitter smile etched itself in his features. “Why do you continue to engage in such pointless endeavors? Apologizing to me, now _leaving_ — And for what?”

Taekwoon didn’t answer, instead continuing to stare at Hakyeon with those intense eyes and unreadable expression. Hakyeon’s anger was beginning to boil over again.

“Say something!” he demanded and again was met with silence. “Why won’t you tell me what you want from me, why must you keep playing these games and haunting me at every turn?”

Nothing. Taekwoon merely blinked, unflinching like a rock. Hakyeon growled and surged forward before he could stop himself and hit Taekwoon across the face, claw-like nails leaving behind angry, deep gashes on the flawless skin. Taekwoon’s face was turned away with the impact and he didn’t try to straighten his stance, his dark hair covering his eyes, black blood, ichor, oozing from his wounds. Hakyeon was heaving, his breath loud and echoing in the walls of the cave, silent tears streaming down his face with anger and loathing and _fear_ and he didn’t know what to do, didn’t know why he wanted Taekwoon to _stay_.

He watched as the wounds in Taekwoon’s cheek knitted themselves together with new skin, healing over the gashes until it looked like it had before, nothing but unmarked pale skin - the only difference were the remnants of ichor, still visible where they leaked down his face.

Taekwoon raised his fingertips, touching his face solemnly, smudging the ichor there almost reverently. Hakyeon thought he could see the ghost of a smile in his rosy lips.

Finally, he raised his face to meet Hakyeon’s gaze once more, the feelings there unreadable and mysterious and maddening.

“Why won’t you fight back? Why—” Hakyeon asked, his voice cracking, and Taekwoon’s smile became just the littlest bit wider. It was still so very sad.

“Goodbye, Hakyeon.”

In a jolt, Hakyeon tried grabbing at him, but Taekwoon was already gone, dissolved by the wind.

 

***

 

Hakyeon slept. He let his consciousness slip away into nothing, the grief in his heart too much, the sadness too strong, and he felt like he couldn’t deal with those emotions awake. He slept and slept, stayed huddled inside his cave, isolated from the world outside. He couldn’t even find it in himself to check on his children and make sure they were alright, if they had been able to carry on and rebuild after Taekwoon had taken so many of them.

Taekwoon. He slept so he wouldn’t have to think of him, so he wouldn’t have to _miss_ him. The only constant in his life, no matter if Hakyeon dreaded his presence, and now he was gone and what could Hakyeon do? He was certain that Taekwoon would not come if called, that Hakyeon would never catch glimpse of him again if Taekwoon did not wish to be seen. And he should be glad of it, should be happy about not having to butt heads with Death all the time, should be relieved for the pointlessness of their interactions to have ceased, and yet— He missed him. He missed the soft voice and the silence, the frail quality of his movements, the way those pink lips moved so graciously to form words. He missed the smell of him, the cloying sweetness of him, that smell of damp earth and dying flowers, that whiff he caught in the air sometimes that reminded him of home, of the stars where they’d come from.

It took him thousands of years until he felt brave enough to get up and wander outside. The world had changed, drastically so, and his children had, somehow, carried on just fine without him. It made him feel proud and useless, happy and disappointed. But it was with a vicious satisfaction that he realized that, no matter how much Taekwoon took and took, his children continued to endure.

But he was tired of the cycle. He was weary of creating life only to see it destroyed. He settled for watching, for a time, thinking that someday the fire would begin to burn again inside of him and he would start making new life once more. Decades passed, then centuries, and Hakyeon continued to experience that sense of detachment, looking over his children being born, growing old and dying, and the urge to make new things didn’t come back.

Neither did Taekwoon.

It had been so long. Too long. He would not come back, his warning about leaving not a bluff, and Hakyeon had hoped it would be the case. That he would awake one day and find Death looming beside him. That day didn’t come.

So Hakyeon made an executive decision.

In a way, he had always known how to find Taekwoon - he had simply chosen to ignore the fact. He closed his eyes and directed all his thoughts to Taekwoon; it grated at him that it wasn’t hard at all to do. When he opened his eyes again, he wasn’t in his cave anymore, but instead inside a vast expanse of darkness, blackness all around him. Looking down, he found his own reflection looking up at him. Water. Water everywhere, like a floor made of mirrors.

Hakyeon turned around, finding an oddly shaped rock formation not far from him, and sitting there, atop the rock, was a familiar robed figure.

Hakyeon felt his breath catch and his heart pound at the sight of him. Taekwoon had his back turned, and, upon hearing Hakyeon’s hesitant footsteps, he turned to regard him. His hood was drawn back and his lips parted slightly with surprise once his eyes locked with Hakyeon’s, and Hakyeon’s steps faltered. He waited for a reprieve, for Taekwoon to tell him to leave, but he said nothing. Didn’t protest. So Hakyeon squared his shoulders and resumed his steps, climbing on the boulder and settling down next to the lord of that dimension. Taekwoon only watched him, eyes narrowed curiously and lips pursed.

“Is there something you need?” Taekwoon asked, and Hakyeon shivered at the sound of that voice after going so long without hearing it. “Have you come to strike me again or are you lost, perhaps?”

“No,” Hakyeon answered all three questions with a single word. “I came to see you.”

Taekwoon’s expression became more puzzled than before. “To see me?”

“Yes,” Hakyeon admitted, even if the truth tasted like bile in his mouth. “I have come to the realization that you… you have been the only constant in my existence. My children don’t need me anymore - they have outgrown even me, have found a way to beat even you.”

“Mhm,” Taekwoon hummed and nodded, his eyes wandering to the vast darkness before them. “You must be proud.”

Hakyeon smiled bitterly to himself. “I am not sure if I am proud or regretful.”

“Do not regret making strong children, Hakyeon,” Taekwoon said, eyes still lost in the blackness ahead. “That they are enduring and becoming independent is because you made them such. Be proud.”

“For someone who keeps cutting their times short, you seem to hold them in high regard,” Hakyeon commented wryly, and Taekwoon turned to him with a smile on his lips. Hakyeon tried to pretend he wasn’t surprised. Wasn’t affected.

“If I seem to admire them, it is only because I do,” Taekwoon confessed, and Hakyeon noticed for the first time that he seemed to carry himself with more confidence there, in that dark realm. His element. His darkness. “Your creations are marvelous, Hakyeon. It pained me to reap them from the world.”

Hakyeon bit his tongue. He didn’t want to argue that point again, it wasn’t the reason why he’d come. Before he could think of something not hostile to say, a movement caught his attention. The water underneath them, so far peaceful and undisturbed, just like the surface of a mirror, rippled. Hakyeon frowned, tensing up slightly as he didn’t understand this realm, didn’t know if he should be on his guard. Taekwoon next to him seemed as relaxed as he’d been since he arrived, a warm smile lingering on his lips.

“What—” Hakyeon managed to form that single word with his mouth. Taekwoon’s smile became slightly wider.

“They have heard your voice,” he answered, simple, and before Hakyeon could ask what that had meant, a small, wispy orb of light floated up from the water to hover in front of Hakyeon.

Hakyeon immediately felt a warmth wash through him, a tug in his heart that felt familiar, too familiar, and his eyes welled up with tears. He reached out, brushing his fingertips on the wisp, and the little ball of light flickered and bounced around happily. Hakyeon turned to Taekwoon, tears already spilling down the valley of his cheekbones.

“Is this—?”

He didn’t need to finish the question. Taekwoon nodded, his eyes soft in a way Hakyeon had never witnessed. “Yes. They have come to say hello.”

“They?” Hakyeon echoed, and as if on cue, the water rippled all around them and hundreds, _thousands_ of wisps rose from the dark depths, floating around their perch on the rock. Hakyeon choked back a sob and covered his mouth with one hand, head on a swivel, snapping to one side and the other trying to see every single one of the orbs. His voice was shaking when he found it in him to speak. “This is where you keep them?”

Taekwoon agreed with a nod. “I make sure they are safe and content. I watch over them.”

“Why?” Hakyeon asked, his heart hammering inside his chest.

“Because you love them,” Taekwoon answered, simple. Like the words didn’t make Hakyeon feel like he was drowning. “Because they are important to you. You have made them with such care, such devotion; I could do nothing less but to treat them the same way.”

“I—” Hakyeon stammered, deliberately not looking at Taekwoon. “I did not think you would take such good care of them. They— I can feel their happiness.”

“They love you very much.”

The words finally made Hakyeon turn to face Taekwoon, finding him with his face tipped up as he watched his children play around, a tiny smile on his lips, expression serene and sad. So sad. It broke Hakyeon’s heart.

“As I love them,” Hakyeon said, eyes darting up to the bright orbs of light for a moment before he fixed his gaze on Taekwoon again. “You love them too.”

Taekwoon’s expression changed, his brows hitching into a frown. “Yes, I suppose I do.” He lowered his head, his dark hair falling over his eyes. “But they do not love me. They fear me, and with good reason as I was the one who took them from you.”

“Taekwoon—”

“Feel free to visit them at any time,” Taekwoon said, rising from where he was sitting. His hair was still hiding his face. “You are always welcome here.”

And just like that, he was gone.

 

***

 

Hakyeon gladly accepted Taekwoon’s offer to visit - being reunited with his children, even if not in their original form, had made his heart soar with happiness. He would come to play with them, fly around that vast expanse of darkness in his true draconic form, sometimes sing for them and tell them stories, just like he used to do when they were fresh, newborn souls. He could spend hours there with them, in reckless abandon, enjoying the presence of the beings he had so lovingly created.

But Taekwoon never seemed to be around.

Was Taekwoon avoiding him? Had Hakyeon done something wrong? Taekwoon had been the one to invite him to his realm, so why was he never there?

Hakyeon was taking a stroll through Death’s dimension, one of his children hovering next to him, keeping him company.

Once, that little orb of light had been a flower. His firstborn.

They were alone; his other children didn’t seem interested in exploring the place where they’d been dwelling for so long, but the flower - Jaehwan, Hakyeon named it - opted to come along. Jaehwan was easily one of his most loyal children.

“Have you seen him lately?” Hakyeon asked out of sudden. “Taekwoon?”

Jaehwan hovered around his head, creating patterns in the air with its light. “Yes, every day!”

“How is he?” Hakyeon asked, trying to sound less interested than he actually was. “I have not caught a glimpse of him ever since I visited this place for the first time.”

“I think he is sad,” Jaehwan replied, its light dimming some. “He has been quiet. He does not sing to us anymore.”

“Oh? He sings to you?” Hakyeon asked, genuinely surprised with that piece of information.

“Not anymore,” Jaehwan said; his light flickered, and it felt forlorn. “He has a very pretty voice. Better than yours!”

“Hey!” Hakyeon exclaimed and gave the orb a little slap, making it float away a few inches before bouncing up and down around him teasingly. He took a deep breath to reel in his nerves. “What kind of songs did he sing to you?”

“The same songs you used to sing to us,” Jaehwan informed, chipper. “And some songs he created himself. His songs are very sad.”

“Why are they sad?” Hakyeon continued his line of questioning. “What are the songs about?”

“Many things,” Jaehwan said as his light dimmed again. “He sings about being sad a lot. And being lonely. And how he does not like taking our lives. And love.”

“Love?” Hakyeon said, his eyebrows shooting up. “Why would he sing about love?”

“I do not know,” Jaehwan responded and floated closer to settle on Hakyeon’s shoulder, warmth gathering there. “I think he wants love. I think he is in love.”

Hakyeon snorted at that. “He is Death. Death is not capable of being in love.”

“I would not be so sure about that,” Jaehwan singsonged, and Hakyeon sighed. “You should call for him!”

“And why would I do that?” Hakyeon threw back, patting his child gently not to hurt it. “I do not think he wants to see or speak to me.”

“He is very lonely,” Jaehwan informed, and Hakyeon noticed an edge of concern in its voice. “And he is not bad. You should spend time with him and see.”

“Very well, my child. I will make this tremendous sacrifice since you are asking me to,” Hakyeon teased and Jaehwan hopped excitedly on his shoulder.

Hakyeon was certain he would regret that promise, but then again, when could he ever deny anything to his beloved children?

 

***

 

It took time for Hakyeon to gather the nerve to actually call for Taekwoon. He wasn’t sure what he could say, what excuse to make for calling him like that - but he’d promised Jaehwan he would try to understand Taekwoon better, and Jaehwan would never leave him alone if he didn’t make good on his word.

So there he was, standing at the top of the rock where he had last spoken to Taekwoon, fiddling nervously with the rim of his tunic. He took a deep breath, finally deciding to just get over it and do it.

“Taekwoon?” he called into the darkness, shy and unsure. He didn’t have to wait long to feel the presence behind him.

“Hakyeon.”

He turned around at the sound of his name, finding Taekwoon standing behind him. His hood was up, so all he could see was his chin and a little bit of his bottom lip. He didn’t understand why Taekwoon felt the need to wear that thing in his own realm, but decided not to question.

“Is something the matter?”

“No, I— Nothing is wrong,” Hakyeon said, and Taekwoon tilted his head to the side curiously. “I was simply wondering where you have been holed up in.”

Hakyeon smiled, but it was an awkward little thing. Taekwoon seemed even more confused. “I have been here.”

“If you were here, then how come I never see you when I come to visit my children?” Hakyeon asked as he took a step towards Taekwoon. He thought he saw the Darkness flinch as if he wanted to move away, but held himself in place instead.

“My realm is vast. And I have my own chambers,” Taekwoon explained, and Hakyeon frowned slightly. “I did not want to intrude in your time with them. I understand that my presence is unwanted, so I—”

“Your presence is not unwanted,” Hakyeon blurted before he could stop himself. Taekwoon most definitely flinched this time. “And this is _your_ domain. You should not have to feel like you need to disappear in your own home.”

Taekwoon was silent for a long time, and Hakyeon wondered if he hadn’t crossed a line somewhere - but then again, he had hit Taekwoon across the face once, drawn blood, and he never tried to get back at Hakyeon for that.

“You have said to me, many times, that you loathe me,” Taekwoon finally spoke, and Hakyeon was surprised to find no bitterness in his tone despite the topic. There was only sadness. Resignation. Acceptance. Hakyeon didn’t like it. “And I recall making a promise not to bother you again with my presence. I am trying to keep that promise.”

Hakyeon bit his tongue and lowered his eyes, murmuring after a few seconds, “I never asked you to promise me that.”

Taekwoon looked away, somewhere into the darkness to his left, so he wouldn’t have to look at Hakyeon. “I do not understand you.”

The words were so low Hakyeon barely heard them. He didn’t know how to reply, but before he could Taekwoon was already speaking again.

“If there is nothing more you need,” Taekwoon said, not looking at Hakyeon, “I will take my leave. Enjoy your time with your children.”

“Taekwoon—!”

In a heartbeat, Hakyeon found himself alone again, Taekwoon disappearing before his eyes like sand blown away by the wind.

 

***

 

Hakyeon had no clue how that idea came to be, but he found that he was positively vibrating with excitement. It was probably going to blow up in his face, as most of his ideas did, but he thought it would be very helpful not only to himself, but to Taekwoon as well.

...If Taekwoon agreed to it in the first place. There was a very large chance he would flat out refuse him.

Hakyeon was brimming with anxious energy when he entered Death’s realm that day, and it took a lot of pacing around the rock where he usually met Taekwoon before he finally found the courage to call for him.

“Taekwoon?”

Long seconds ticked by, and there was no sign of the Darkness. Hakyeon took a deep breath.

“Taekwoon, I need to talk to you, so please come out?”

It took a little while, but at last Taekwoon materialized next to him, hood up hiding his features. “Hakyeon. Is something the matter?”

Hakyeon bit his lower lip nervously, and Taekwoon tilted his head when he noticed the action. Hakyeon swallowed hard and cleared his throat, stepping closer to Taekwoon. Taekwoon tensed up but didn’t move.

“I… I have a request,” he started, and it was with some satisfaction that he saw Taekwoon’s pink kitten lips part slightly with the surprise of the words. “I am not sure you will accept it—”

“If it is within my power to give it to you, it is already yours,” Taekwoon said, his soft voice sounding frail. Hakyeon’s heart drummed inside his chest. “What is it?”

“I have been… I have been thinking,” Hakyeon began, taking another step closer to Taekwoon. The latter merely watched him move, suspicious. “For a while now, I feel like I have hit a wall. I have no more in me to give, no more wish to create life.”

Taekwoon was following his motions with his intense gaze, and Hakyeon could feel it even when his eyes were hidden by the hood. “I am afraid there is nothing I can do in that regard, Hakyeon.”

“No, that’s not—” He paused, suddenly more nervous than before. He was standing right in front of Taekwoon. “That is not what this is about.”

“Mm?” Taekwoon hummed, prompting him to continue.

Hakyeon took a deep breath, reserving himself a moment to get himself together. “Taekwoon,” he started, and in a quick movement grabbed Taekwoon’s right hand with both of his own, “would you make a child with me?”

Taekwoon seemed to have turned to stone in front of him, a marble statue dressed in black. Hakyeon just waited, giving Taekwoon time to process the request, but didn’t let go of his hand. His fingers felt so cold against Hakyeon’s warm skin. It sent a chill down his spine, and it wasn’t completely unpleasant.

Finally, Taekwoon seemed to find his voice again. “I— Hakyeon, I am Death. I do not possess the ability to create life.”

“I know you don’t, but I do,” Hakyeon said, already prepared for that argument. “I will give it life. But the process of creating the being, I want you to be a part of it.”

“I—” Taekwoon seemed at a complete loss for words. “Why me?”

“Why not you?” Hakyeon said and giggled. He wondered if he had imagined the blush on Taekwoon’s cheeks, but it was too dark under the hood for him to be sure. More seriously, he continued. “This life I want to make… it’s not like the others. I want to try making an everlasting child.”

Taekwoon’s lips parted once again. “You want to create a god.”

“Yes,” Hakyeon confirmed. “I have the power to give life. You have the power to take it. Together, we can make an immortal being.”

“That is not possible,” Taekwoon said and shook his head, snatching his hand away from Hakyeon’s grasp. Hakyeon let him go easily. “And why would you want me to be a part of it? You hate me. Why would you insert someone you hate so much into the creation of a child you will love unconditionally?”

“Taekwoon,” Hakyeon called him, the same way Taekwoon had called Hakyeon himself many times before. Death froze before him. “I do not hate you. I— I admit, I have misjudged you for a long time. But I understand you better now. You are not the evil I believed you to be.”

Taekwoon lowered his head, hiding his expression away completely. Hakyeon waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts.

When Taekwoon huffed a mirthless chuckle, Hakyeon frowned. “You are truly a puzzle.”

Hakyeon’s eyebrow shot up. “ _I_ am a puzzle? It is not as if you were an open book yourself.”

“Mhm, I am aware,” Taekwoon easily conceded, letting out a puff of air. He seemed tired. “Before I decide, will you answer one question?”

“If it is something I can answer, yes,” Hakyeon replied and nodded, clasping his hands in front of his body solemnly. “Ask away.”

“All I want to know is the truth,” Taekwoon started and, again, Hakyeon frowned. “You want to make an immortal child, and I know fully well you can accomplish that feat on your own. Perhaps you might need my assistance along the way, perhaps you will not. Yet, you say you want me to help you through the entire process of creating the vessel. Please be truthful, Hakyeon: why do you want my help?”

Hakyeon lowered his gaze, not expecting such a direct question, but he found in himself that he couldn’t lie to Taekwoon even if he wanted to - and he didn’t.

“I was hoping to build a bridge between us,” Hakyeon said, biting his lower lip. “I was very unfair to you, and I do not blame you if you would rather not be around me at all after all the awful things I have said to you in so many occasions.” He paused, chancing a glance at Taekwoon and finding he couldn’t see his face at all under the hood. “But as I said, I understand you better now. I want— I hope we can become, if not friends, at least civil with each other.”

Taekwoon was silent for a moment, processing the answer he’d received. “Civil?”

Hakyeon flinched, certain he was about to be rejected. “Yes, civil. To find some common ground.”

“Making a child together seems a bit extreme if all you want is for us to be civil to each other.”

Hakyeon closed his eyes, lowered his head, let his hands fall limp next to his body. “So is that your answer? You will not agree to my request?”

There was a pause during which Hakyeon was too nervous to look up at Taekwoon. There was a bitter feeling in his throat, disappointment bruising his heart. He had hoped he would say yes. He wasn’t sure why, but he wanted so very bad to make a child with the help of Taekwoon.

“Very well,” Taekwoon’s crystalline voice rang in the silence, and Hakyeon snapped his eyes up to stare at Death in complete shock. “I will accept your request.”

 

***

 

Hakyeon had never once poured so much of his heart in creating a life before. He and Taekwoon had agreed that they wanted to make a perfect child, but not _too_ perfect as to not take away its identity. They also agreed that the core material should be stardust - their child would be made like them, their one parallel. They sculpted it together, working silently and with purpose, exchanging glances and secret smiles that had Hakyeon’s heart fluttering in his chest like a bird taking flight.

When they were done making their child’s body, Hakyeon felt somehow accomplished. They had done a lovely job, indeed.

“What is the next step?” Taekwoon asked from under his hood, but Hakyeon could tell he was inspecting their work in search of any adjustments that should be made. He would find none, Hakyeon knew.

“We need to give him purpose,” Hakyeon replied, watching their child’s face lovingly. “He will be immortal. Eternity will be terribly dull if he has no goal.”

“Mhm, indeed,” Taekwoon hummed in assent. “It should be something that brings joy, for him and others as well.”

Hakyeon smiled gently Taekwoon, knowing very well where that concern was coming from - Taekwoon didn’t want their child to have a life like his own.

“What do you love?” Hakyeon asked, and Taekwoon’s head turned to him so fast Hakyeon would have startled if he wasn’t feeling completely at ease.

Taekwoon took a moment to answer. “Music.”

“Music,” Hakyeon echoed, nodding slowly as he considered it. “What of literature?”

“Yes,” Taekwoon agreed.

Hakyeon tapped his index finger to his bottom lip, a thoughtful expression on his face. “We can make our child to be the embodiment of art.”

“Art?” Taekwoon repeated and stopped for a moment to consider it. Hakyeon knew he had liked the idea from the way his lips curled upwards in a tiny smile. “Yes. I think it will suit him.”

“Very well, art it is,” Hakyeon declared and smiled brightly. Taekwoon lowered his head. “Now that we have decided on a purpose, he will need a soul.”

“Will you make him one?” Taekwoon asked, and Hakyeon’s smile became mischievous.

“I have made it already,” he said. At that, Taekwoon frowned. “But I will need your permission.”

“My permission for what?”

“To make our child immortal, it cannot be a new soul. It has to be a soul that had a taste of life already, and preferably a soul that spent a lot of time in a superior dimension. Such as your realm.”

“You want to use the soul of one of your departed children,” Taekwoon concluded, and Hakyeon was relieved that he didn’t sound angry or put off. “And that would work?”

“I would have to tweak it, of course. Adjust it to suit its new purpose, and we would both have to gift it a piece of ourselves, as we are eternal,” Hakyeon explained, ever patient. Taekwoon hummed thoughtfully.

“A piece of us,” he murmured to himself. “So I would not be able to take its life.”

“Mhm, exactly,” Hakyeon agreed. “Only a piece of me would suffice for that, but this is _our_ child. It should be made with both of us.”

Taekwoon turned his face away too quick for Hakyeon to gauge his reaction.

“Mm. Very well.” Taekwoon mumbled. “Do you know which one of your children’s soul is the most suited?”

Hakyeon simply grinned at Taekwoon.

 

***

 

Hakyeon could only feel accomplished as he watched his new child take his first steps into the world. Taekwoon, for once not making use of that dreadful hood, was standing next to him looking just as pleased as Hakyeon himself.

Jaehwan seemed happy. He had spent a ridiculous amount of time examining his new body, and it must have been odd indeed - first a flower, then a shapeless wisp of light, and now a different being entirely shaped like Hakyeon’s precious humans. He hoped his son would have no need to undergo any other metamorphosis in the future.

“It feels nice, does it not?” Hakyeon asked Taekwoon, his eyes still fixed on their son. “Breathing life into something.”

“Mhm,” Taekwoon hummed in assent. His expression was serene, blissful, and Hakyeon thought he had never seen anything so beautiful before. “I understand now why you despise me so much. If anyone harmed our child, I would tear them apart.”

“I do not despise you. Not anymore,” Hakyeon said as he shot him a reproachful look, his cheeks darkening with shame as he looked away again to add in a whisper. “On the contrary.”

Taekwoon frowned and turned his face towards Hakyeon, dark eyes shiny with what Hakyeon thought - hoped - to be longing. He said nothing, but smiled; the brightest, most beautiful smile Hakyeon’s ever had the honor to witness. He hoped that was the first of many such smiles he would see from his Darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed it! ♡♡♡
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/ghostlike91) | [tumblr](https://ghostlike91.tumblr.com/) | [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/ghostlike) | [ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/ghostlike91)


End file.
